Have you ever found yourself needing an escape from the reality of your everyday life? Taking some time away from the demands of a job or school for self-care is necessary. I do not do it often enough, but when I do, I walk away from my responsibilities temporarily, and I am rewarded by its effects on me. It gives me a designated time of uninterrupted self-reflection and chance to mend my weary mind after long, hard weeks come and go. Any chance I get to and sit by a body of water, I feel a calming sensation wash over me. My heart is flooded with peacefulness, and my mind is refreshed. Seeing the ripples of water disrupt the surface of a lake gives me something to think about. Each ripple stands for a task that must be done. As one ripple stops, another one begins. This chain reaction resembles how we go through life going from one task to the next. A stone, the wind, or force acts as the catalyst to begin a ripple. We also have motivation as a driving force behind our actions. No matter how busy we are, or think we are, there is always time to take a step away from it all to reflect on the reasons why we do what we do and reignite the love behind the passion. I am around people all the time at school, and my future profession will revolve around people interactions. And let me say this: being around people for extended lengths of time is exhausting to me. It is not a bad thing, but I just need some alone time as self-care efforts. We all have that one exhausting trigger that requires some form of R and R. Be aware of your needs and make you the best you can be. We cannot help others if we do not help ourselves first. The reason I enjoy taking nature walks and sitting by the water is that, in the stillness and silence, I find the beauty of life. I escape from the high demands and take a step towards inner peace. Water stands for a cleansing, and my soul thrives in the quietness as the cleansing of my body and mind takes place. Finding myself in the serenity of solitude is lovely, wild, and free. Stay Curious, Kayla ©Inquisitive Perspectives 2017
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Something about the word normal rubs me the wrong way. Normality has set a precedence in our minds that we must meet normal standards. If everything in the world fit the normal mold, we would live in a dull and ordinary place. In our uniqueness, we make the world extraordinary. Sameness creates conformity, but strangeness creates diversity. I often draw from my high school experiences. I had a teacher for three years in a row who told us from day one to “make your own normal.” I had not thought about it like that, but I liked it. This saying of his has stayed with me ever since. By making our normal, it allows us to define ourselves and not be ashamed of differences we have from one person to the next. I appreciated that statement because it put us all on the same page with our differences. No one was going be better or less than with our peers, and the understanding was established that those differences were not going to stand in the way of friendships and accomplishing tasks. Our environment for high school put this concept into perspective, but in a perfect world, this principle could take us further if implemented. We should not be made to feel like we are wrong for being ourselves. Society has made it okay for people to jump at the chance to single out a difference. I wish that were not the case, but it is. We have so much to offer this world. An obligation to leave our mark on this world should be at the forefront of our minds. So, in all of the differences in this world, we should see the beauty in them. There is something to be seen in the world’s and our individual beautiful strangeness. Stay Curious, Kayla ©Inquisitive Perspectives 2017 Having things sugar-coated has become the way of society. We only hear what we want to hear and only accept the news we already believe. Knowledge is powerful, but without the power that comes from feeding the mind with rich literature, our knowledge is quite limited. There is no way around it. A person can be ignorant of knowledge, or a person can be powerful in knowledge. I know what I want to be. You have the power to choose. I see such beauty in words. There is a special place in my heart for typography and the meanings behind some of the sayings and quotes I have come across in my life. Some of the words I have come to appreciate are not life lessons that leave warm, fuzzy feelings always. They leave a ring of reality that can sometimes be a harsh reminder. Words carry meaning and are part of everyone’s life in some form or fashion. While words feed my soul, others do not have as strong of a connection. We may not always like the words we read or hear. Many things in life revolve around words. Our mind thrives on learning and growing knowledge. And the power we choose to exude will become the personality trait people know us by. Not everything in life will come with a dazzling façade. Words are no exception. Take them as they come. Learn from the lessons. Be open to new ideas. Do not turn a deaf ear or blind eye to the reality of words. Stay Curious, Kayla ©Inquisitive Perspectives 2017 It does not take much to make me happy. Life has a funny way of throwing negativity our way amid good things going on. We have the opportunity to choose happiness over negative emotions. There is always a choice as to how to react to things. Even on the hardest days with nothing going right, the goal that should be strived for is happiness. However we react, it will reflect back on you and the type you are. Make the best choice and do something about it to turn a negative into a positive. Whatever it takes, choose to be happy in all things and make the most of out the situations. It may not be easy, but it will be worth it. Do what makes you smile. Go where you feel free. Be yourself. And do not settle for anything less. Memories of being happy will be much sweeter than memories of sadness. I firmly believe in the saying, “live, laugh, love.” Without laughter and love, life means nothing, but with laughter and love, life means everything. Life is not always a bed of roses. To turn the day around, I usually take some time out for myself. I usually get my nails done or go shopping, but I do not stop with the superficial activities to make me feel better about something. In efforts to further brightening my day, I take a pen and a piece of paper and write. Simple as that. Writing takes me to a happy place, and as long as I have that, I am happy. I am careful not to get too bogged down by the negative things that come my way. By turning the negativity into something positive, I get recharged to face it all again. We all need a happy zone to bring us back to a happy head space. Nothing makes me happier than to wonder and dream. Stay Curious, Kayla ©Inquisitive Perspectives 2017 Until I got to college and began exploring deeper literature, I had not been exposed to much poetry. I was not that interested in it, and I did not have a great desire to read it. After having a class that dwelt heavily on poetry and the meanings behind it, I have been more inclined to read it and find poems that relate to my life and the world around me. Finding poems with rich meanings and strong messages are exciting. My classes paired with the movie Dead Poet Society were the two driving forces to growing my reading horizons. My eyes were opened to an entirely new world of literature. Originally, I was somewhat narrow-minded when it came to my opinion of poetry. To change my mind, it took an impressive Shakespeare class and a compelling movie. For some, that may seem like an unlikely reason, but it worked. Whatever the reason may be, it does not matter how poetry entered someone’s life and reading repertoire. The factor that matters is that the world of poetry has been entered and has the chance to open the minds and perspectives of a new generation. With a new-found love, I looked forward to an event the Writing Center hosted every year around Halloween. I like to hear all of the poems people had either written or had a connection with as students and staff would recite them. I generally enjoyed the night as an audience member after I helped with setup and prep, but another Writing Fellow always managed to guilt me into reciting a poem. The poetry night event attracted great crowds, and it even grew to an encore event during the winter semester too. It was a fun night that celebrated poetry that I looked forward to while I was a student there, and in that space of academia, it could be agreed upon that poetry is life. Stay Curious, Kayla ©Inquisitive Perspectives 2017 |
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